Hi friends!
Halloween is two weeks out, and this weekend splits neatly in two.
Saturday stays under a roof: crafts, costumes and an early round of trick-or-treating. Sunday heads outside for the last day of Harvest Days at VanDusen. There's a hedge maze, and no better place to get lost on purpose.
The Weather: 🌦️ Friday is sunny and 18°C. Saturday is the wet one: cloudy, a 60% chance of showers, 17°C. Sunday stays dry under thickening cloud, 14°C.
Your weekend:
Saturday: 🧙 Trick-or-treating at Michaels on Broadway + 🧸 drop-in childminding at Metrotown
Sunday: 🍂 Harvest Days' last day at VanDusen
Both days: 🍼 2-for-1 at The Baby Show, for Memo readers + 📚 toddler story time in Stanley Park
Also Saturday: 🗳️ City Election Day. Polls are open 8 AM–8 PM.
🏆 Option 1: The Main Event
The Gist: VanDusen Botanical Garden's fall festival ends this weekend. Around the hedge maze and Learning Garden, there's live bluegrass, face painting, lawn games and food trucks. A Discovery Tent brings in local experts. It's all included with regular garden admission.
Why It Wins:
It's on Oak at 37th, so no Highway 1. The maze does the tiring out for you. Face painting and live music come with the ticket, and under-5s get in free. Sunday is the dry day. It's also the last one until next fall.
The Parent Specs:
📍 Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak St, at W 37th Ave. Enter through the Visitor Centre.
⏰ When: Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 AM–4:30 PM. Live music 11:30 AM–1:30 PM and 2–4 PM. Face painting 10:30 AM–1 PM and 1:30–4 PM.
👶 Ages: All ages. Strollers are welcome, and the main paths are paved. Leave scooters and bikes at home.
🚽 Potty: Okay. Accessible portable toilets sit near the activities. The full washrooms are back at the Visitor Centre, about a 10-minute walk.
💸 Cost: Online, it's $13.27 per adult and $6.63 for ages 5 to 12. Ages 4 and under are free but still need a ticket. Two adults and two children ages 5 to 12 come to $39.80, plus GST and fees. The gate costs more.
🅿️ Parking: The free lot off W 37th Ave is small. There's free street parking nearby, where signs allow. Or take the #17 Oak bus, or walk 15 minutes from Oakridge–41st Station.
The Move: Go Sunday, and buy tickets online first. Get there at 10:30 and start with face painting. Then the maze. Hit the food trucks when the music starts at 11:30.
🪶 Option 2: The "Low Drag" Play
The Gist: The Michaels on West Broadway is throwing a free Halloween party on Saturday morning. Expect crafts, games, giveaways and in-store trick-or-treating.
Why It Wins:
It's free, it's indoors, and it's on the wet day. It's two blocks from the Canada Line. Two hours of crafts, and the glitter stays at Michaels. Costume ready already? This is its dress rehearsal.
The Parent Specs:
📍 Where: Michaels, 665 W Broadway, two blocks west of Cambie
⏰ When: Saturday, 10 AM–12 PM
👶 Ages: 4 and up
🚽 Potty: Unknown. Michaels doesn't say, so go before you leave home.
💸 Cost: Free. The Halloween aisle on the way out is not.
The Move: Take the Canada Line to Broadway–City Hall and walk two blocks west. Arrive at 10 with the costume on. Bring a bag for the trick-or-treat haul.
🎪 Option 3: The Wildcard
The Gist: Non-profit MOSAIC opened a drop-in childminding centre inside Metrotown on October 3. Early childhood educators run games, songs and crafts for ages 3 and up, for up to two hours. You stay in the mall.
Why It Wins:
A wet Saturday is a mall day anyway. Your child gets educators, a snack and a room of new friends. You get two hours for the gift run, the costume hunt or a sit-down coffee. It's open until 7, so it works after nap time. The money goes back into MOSAIC's non-profit programs.
The Parent Specs:
📍 Where: Suite 480, Metropolis at Metrotown, 4800 Kingsway, Burnaby. Take the big colourful elevator in the Grand Court up to the OG level, then turn right.
⏰ When: Every Saturday, 11 AM–7 PM. Up to two hours per child, per day.
👶 Ages: 3 and up
🚽 Potty: Easy. It's a mall.
💸 Cost: $23 an hour per child, snack included. The full two hours is $46. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead, or there's no refund.
🅿️ Parking: Free for up to four hours in most of the mall's lots.
📝 The fine print: It isn't licensed childcare, so you must stay inside the mall.
The Move: Make the account tonight. It asks for allergies, medical notes and who can pick up, so give it five minutes. Then book Saturday. No car? Canada Line to Langara–49th, then the #49 bus east to Metrotown.
✨Bonus: The Baby Show, 2-for-1 for The Cambie Memo Readers
Canada Place hosts this pregnancy-to-toddler show all weekend. Shop gear from big brands and local makers. Catch expert talks on car seats, babywearing and the newborn weeks. There's a prenatal and postnatal massage clinic, and Bluey is there for photos.
Memo readers get an exclusive code. CAMBIE241 gets you 2-for-1 tickets through Sunday. The link applies it for you.
📍 Where: Canada Place, East Facility, Hall B. Canada Line to Waterfront.
⏰ When: Saturday 10 AM–6 PM, Sunday 10 AM–5 PM. Bluey meet-and-greets 11 AM–3 PM both days.
👶 Ages: Pregnancy through the toddler years
🚽 Potty: Easy. It's a convention centre.
💸 Cost: $15 for ages 12 and up, $10 for ages 5 to 11, under 5 free. With the code, two adult tickets cost $15, plus fees.
🔁 Re-entry: Need a nap or feeding break? Show photo ID at the Information Booth on the way out and on the way back in.
The Move: Buy your tickets online with the code before you leave home. Get there for 10, walk the floor first, and be in the Bluey line before 11.
Also Worth Knowing
Got a 2-to-6-year-old? Stanley Park Ecology runs a drop-in story time Saturday and Sunday, 1:30–2:30 PM, at the Nature House on Lost Lagoon. Expect picture books and crafts about the park's animals and plants, including books by Indigenous authors. It's by donation, with no registration. The Nature House sits under the viewing plaza at the north end of Alberni St. Stanley Park parking is $4.25 an hour.
Can't make it? It's back November 14–15, 21–22 and 28–29.
Got a friend with a baby on the way? Forward this to them. Two tickets for the price of one, and there's a massage clinic inside.
We’ve got this!
Saba Yazdani
The Cambie Memo
